Republic of Ireland Team Talk/News/Rumours 2020/2021 - see Mod Note in OP [18/11/20]

dr.kenneth noisewater

Hourihane joining Swansea on loan according to the Athletic. Bournemouth and Forest were also interested.

johnnyryan89

Conor Masterson is moving to Swindon on loan.

Francie Barrett

dr.kenneth noisewater wrote: »

Hourihane joining Swansea on loan according to the Athletic. Bournemouth and Forest were also interested.

A Villa insider has suggested that it's Swansea who he will be going on loan to.

Ashley Preece

Conor Hourihane heading to Swansea on loan for the rest of the season, as per
@stujames75
. Just the 54 goal involvements in 126 Championship appearances. Irish star desperate for a regular run of games. What a servant. "Not too bad for a lad who's come from Barnsley." #AVFC

Francie Barrett

Richard Keogh's move to Huddersfield is confirmed.

https://twitter.com/htafc/status/1351507200099815428

Ferris_Bueller

So far some good moves for Irish players this window, Keogh, O'Hora, Masterson, Travers, Hourihane, Molumby will all be hopefully seeing more gametime now in the second half of the season. Shame Obafemi picked up an injury which prevented him going out on loan.

Is there anyone else we would like to see move to get more gametime? Maybe Luca Connell or Jimmy Dunne at Burnley.

henke

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

So far some good moves for Irish players this window, Keogh, O'Hora, Masterson, Travers, Hourihane, Molumby will all be hopefully seeing more gametime now in the second half of the season. Shame Obafemi picked up an injury which prevented him going out on loan.

Is there anyone else we would like to see move to get more gametime? Maybe Luca Connell or Jimmy Dunne at Burnley.

I'd like to see Luca Connell get game time he was one I had high hopes for. Celtic could easily give him a run now the league is gone but I don't think Lennon will so a move might help him. Dunne too can hopefully get a move. Done ok for Burnley when they were using him a while back.

johnnyryan89

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

So far some good moves for Irish players this window, Keogh, O'Hora, Masterson, Travers, Hourihane, Molumby will all be hopefully seeing more gametime now in the second half of the season. Shame Obafemi picked up an injury which prevented him going out on loan.

Is there anyone else we would like to see move to get more gametime? Maybe Luca Connell or Jimmy Dunne at Burnley.

Don't think Dunne will move until the summer, his contract runs out in the summer and hopefully he leaves before he becomes the next Kevin Long. And speaking of Long his contract is also up in the summer and hopefully he actually leaves this time too.

Luca's time in Scotland has been a major disappointment. He'll be there two years this summer and has yet to make a single appearance or appear on the bench until this Dubai cock up. Should have been sent out on loan to an SPL team to further his development. He more than held his own at 17 and playing in a new position at senior level.

Can add Conor Coventry to the list, he's wasting his time stuck in the West Ham U23s side. Don't think there's anyone else except Kelleher, but can't see Liverpool loaning him out.

Francie Barrett

Cullen starting for Anderlecht tonight for those who are curious. Streams available in the usual places.

The White Feather

Kevin Zefi who is not even 16 has joined Inter Milan from Shamrock Rovers. I hope we don't go on to lose him as he sounds like he could be a big star. Early yet of course but I hope he does well in his career.

It also says Conor Masterson is joining Swindon for the rest of the season.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-40210454.html

DM_7

sugarman wrote: »

Bad move IMO, big clubs like Inter chew up and spit out hundreds of kids every year, very few if any make it from their academy these days. They've been big spenders the last few years now, they spent something close to €200m last year alone.

As a soon to be 16 year old, it would be far more beneficial for the kid to stay at home with a club like Rovers. He was getting his game with the reserve team in the first division at 15, becoming the youngest ever LOI goalscorer in the process. He'd be involved with the first team sooner rather than later with his current process and he wouldn't be uprooted from his friends/family and would still be getting an education too.

On the other hand:

It’s understood the young gem has relatives living in Milan and will be initially joined in Italy by his parents, who are both Albanian-born

Pawwed Rig

Masterson's star continues to fall.

Weepsie

Once in a lifetime chance to go to inter or stay around tallaght. We bemoan that enough players don't try and go abroad.

Who knows what sort of education system will be in place the next while. As it is he could be in Italy and still keep up via remote learning.

And no disrespect to Rovers, but for someone committed and talented enough year in inters academy could be worth a lifetime in any number of irish ones.


Could of course go tits up. Ryan Nolan is playing for getafes b team now

Mr.Nice Guy

Mide Shodipo's been doing well at Oxford on loan from QPR. I read a few QPR fans wanting him recalled from his loan. Hopefully Masterson can create a similar buzz for himself.

Pawwed Rig

He has relatives in Milan and his parents are Albanian so maybe not that connected to Tallaght?

~Rebel~

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

He has relatives in Milan and his parents are Albanian so maybe not that connected to Tallaght?

Still born and raised in Dublin for 15 years though... big dub accent on him too :P

DM_7

DM_7 wrote: »

On the other hand:

Italian family and albanian parents? Get him capped before southgate finds him

Tchaikovsky

Weepsie wrote: »

Could of course go tits up. Ryan Nolan is playing for getafes b team now

To be fair, he worked his way up to the Getafe first team squad before getting a serious injury a few months ago.

loyatemu

Lachlan Some Shuffleboard wrote: »

Italian family and albanian parents? Get him capped before southgate finds him

"family in Italy"- probably also Albanian.

though don't the Italians have fairly loose citizenship rules (I thought I'd read that many of the south american players in Europe are here on Italian passports)?

kksaints

loyatemu wrote: »

"family in Italy"- probably also Albanian.

though don't the Italians have fairly loose citizenship rules (I thought I'd read that many of the south american players in Europe are here on Italian passports)?

Albanian migrants tend to head to Italy a lot. Think a large amount of migrants in Italy are Albanian. Possibly might have some exemptions regarding immigration policy due to Italy invading and attempting to colonize Albania in WW2, it's also very close geographically.

johnnyryan89

loyatemu wrote: »

"family in Italy"- probably also Albanian.

though don't the Italians have fairly loose citizenship rules (I thought I'd read that many of the south american players in Europe are here on Italian passports)?

From wiki:

Through naturalisation:

A person who has been legally resident in Italy for at least ten years may apply for and be granted naturalisation as an Italian citizen if he or she does not have a criminal record and has sufficient financial resources. The residence requirement is reduced to three years for grandchildren of Italian citizens and for foreigners born in Italy, four years for nationals of EU member states, five years for refugees or stateless persons, and seven years for someone who was adopted as a child by an Italian citizen

Pretty sure that if he somehow became an Italian citizen in five years, he'd still have to be there until he's 23 to satisfy FIFAs eligibility rules. Don't they state that someone must be living in their new country for five years from the age of 18. Not sure if his two years before turning 18 would count.

johnnyryan89

kksaints wrote: »

Albanian migrants tend to head to Italy a lot. Think a large amount of migrants in Italy are Albanian. Possibly might have some exemptions regarding immigration policy due to Italy invading and attempting to colonize Albania in WW2, it's also very close geographically.

72km is the shortest distance between both countries coasts. Albanians, especially the younger generations would also have some level of Italian from watching Italian TV, because of the close proximity you can pick up Italian channels on TV.

loyatemu

loyatemu wrote: »

"family in Italy"- probably also Albanian.

though don't the Italians have fairly loose citizenship rules (I thought I'd read that many of the south american players in Europe are here on Italian passports)?

to answer my own question - there are a lot of Brazilians of Italian descent and Italy allows citizenship through the paternal line with no limit on the number of generations... So if your great great grandfather was Italian, you're eligible for an Italian passport.

probably not relevant in this case, but interesting nonetheless.

Weepsie

sugarman wrote: »

Hes not really in Rovers academy though, thats my point, hes been in the reserve team playing First Division football against fully grown men since he turned 15 and it would have been only a matter of time before he was playing with the first team in the Premier Division had he stayed.

There is simply no comparison playing first team football week in/out to playing in any youth system, no mater how prestigious it is.

The vast majority of players in the big academies stay with the clubs until theyre suddenly 21/22 and have never played a senior game of football. Often dropping down the leagues to the third and fourth tiers to try rebuild their careers with many never getting back out of them or much later on in their career when theyre hitting the wrong side of 30 and its too late.

Going over at 15/16 and being in that kind of situation for 5 or 6 years will severely stunt a players development.

He could be at home playing week in/out for Rovers for another season or two without the interruption of moving abroad at a very young age and being away from friends and family while also completing his education.

Its what Gavin Bazuna did, he signed a pre contract agreement with City and moved over 1.5 years later after finishing his Leaving Cert.

Rovers have an excellent partnership with Ashfield College for their youth players to stay and complete their education that works around their training/match schedules.

Having a deeper look into Inters youth academy graduates and how the majority of them went on is fairly stark stuff. A huge portion of them just dont make it as professional footballers at all, or at a much lower level, as in LSL local league stuff. A good few of them make it lower down the Italian league in Serie B/C/D after loan spells with other clubs and such. A select few went onto other Serie A teams. But the most notable is just how few actually make it with Inter. A few have won a handful of caps here and there.. but you have to go back decades for anyone that was a main stay in the senior team.

TL;DR, most end up like Ryan Nolan.

Equally, he could and probably would be kicked off the pitch pretty quickly at that age in the first division and it's somewhat occasionally agricultural take on tackling.

It's down to the player themselves as much as anything. Some will thrive in that type of academy, some won't. He could equally get fed up at shamrock rovers. He might not have interest in the education side, or at least in how it's done here.

I commend anyone who goes and tries something a bit different as it doesn't happen that often.

henke

Parrott drops to the bench this evening but McNamara starts again and see he has got himself an assist.

Francie Barrett

sugarman wrote: »

Jayson Molumby is making his league debut for Preston along side Alan Browne in the middle of the field. Will be interesting to see how the 2 of them get on.

BBC has him playing as a number 10 in a 4-2-3-1.

Ferris_Bueller

I'm surprised you think that Bazunu will end up only being a League 1/Championship goalkeeper. I think he could go on to be a real top level player, maybe not at Man City but I'd be hopeful about his chances of being a PL keeper. Obviously impossible to tell but starting in League One at age 18 in a position where lads don't usually break through for another few years is impressive.

Francie Barrett

It's sad seeing Duffy play, his confidence is absolutely shot to bits. He should be too good to be getting bossed by Livingston.

~Rebel~

sugarman wrote: »

Hes not really in Rovers academy though, thats my point, hes been in the reserve team playing First Division football against fully grown men since he turned 15 and it would have been only a matter of time before he was playing with the first team in the Premier Division had he stayed.

There is simply no comparison playing first team football week in/out to playing in any youth system, no mater how prestigious it is.

The vast majority of players in the big academies stay with the clubs until theyre suddenly 21/22 and have never played a senior game of football. Often dropping down the leagues to the third and fourth tiers to try rebuild their careers with many never getting back out of them or much later on in their career when theyre hitting the wrong side of 30 and its too late.

Going over at 15/16 and being in that kind of situation for 5 or 6 years will severely stunt a players development.

He could be at home playing week in/out for Rovers for another season or two without the interruption of moving abroad at a very young age and being away from friends and family while also completing his education.

Its what Gavin Bazuna did, he signed a pre contract agreement with City and moved over 1.5 years later after finishing his Leaving Cert.

Rovers have an excellent partnership with Ashfield College for their youth players to stay and complete their education that works around their training/match schedules.

Having a deeper look into Inters youth academy graduates and how the majority of them went on is fairly stark stuff. A huge portion of them just dont make it as professional footballers at all, or at a much lower level, as in LSL local league stuff. A good few of them make it lower down the Italian league in Serie B/C/D after loan spells with other clubs and such. A select few went onto other Serie A teams. But the most notable is just how few actually make it with Inter. A few have won a handful of caps here and there.. but you have to go back decades for anyone that was a main stay in the senior team.

TL;DR, most end up like Ryan Nolan.

I'm not sure about that bit in bold... playing is fine, but it means you are basically finding your own way to improve upon your raw ability. If you go to the right academy (and I've no idea how Inter's is), you can get the best coaching to turn you into the best player you can be, rather than having a ceiling limited by how much you can figure out yourself, and how lucky you get with some journeyman coach.

As a ****ty example, i didn't play under a really proper coach till my mid-20's and in the space of a season I was twice the player. I have to imagine a player with real quality and ability can grow to be so much better with the right coaching. In contrast to your argument, I'd say 18 onwards is the time to be playing lots of senior football, but before then is the time to learn. To work with the best coaches you can get, and soak up their experience.

eire4

sugarman wrote: »

What do mean and? What dont you get??? Of course playing senior football week in/out is better than youth league games. Inter Milan are a massive club, yes, but their academy isn't particularly one well known for producing players. Most top clubs aren't. Nor are they known to utilize their academies, as already mentioned you have to go back decades to find players that made the breakthrough to the senior team on a permanent basis at Inter. All top clubs buy in their top talent these days.

Sure how do you think the likes of Zefi, Bazunu, Ferguson really got noticed anyway? By playing senior mens football.

There shouldnt be any rush for these kids to move abroad. 2/3 seasons at home in the LOI at 15/16 - 18 will do them the world of good in their development, rather than youth league games. While also getting an education and not being uprooted from friends and family at such a young age.

Agree with you. Hopefully one of the benefits of brexit for our most promising young players is that they now cannot move to the UK until after they turn 18. So hopefully we will see players now playing at least a few years in the League of Ireland where they can develop physically, continue with their education as you say and if good enough for higher levels when they do leave maybe there is now some transfer money to come into our League of Ireland clubs to help them financially and out most promising players leave as more rounded persons and more experienced and technically and tactically proficient players so they have a better chance of really making it at a top level as pros.

~Rebel~

loyatemu wrote: »

to answer my own question - there are a lot of Brazilians of Italian descent and Italy allows citizenship through the paternal line with no limit on the number of generations... So if your great great grandfather was Italian, you're eligible for an Italian passport.

probably not relevant in this case, but interesting nonetheless.

A Brazilian friend of mine is going through this process at the moment - it's hilarious, it's like a treasure hunt! She has Italian roots way back on her Dad's side, and has (slowly and painfully) dug back enough to find where they think is the origin of the family, so are now at the stage of trying to get someone in some small village in the middle of nowhere in southern Italy to trawl through 150 year old local archives to find references to the family name. Mad stuff. Great coming of age story in there somewhere!

Francie Barrett

Dave Seddon
@Sedds_lep
·
2m
Super counter-attack from PNE, Whiteman to Molumby, exchanged passes with Sinclair, Molumby took it on, fed Sinclair on the right of the box and he finished with a low shot across goal into the far corner.

~Rebel~

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Dave Seddon
@Sedds_lep
·
2m
Super counter-attack from PNE, Whiteman to Molumby, exchanged passes with Sinclair, Molumby took it on, fed Sinclair on the right of the box and he finished with a low shot across goal into the far corner.

Good start to the loan!

I really am optimistic about how our team might look 2 or 3 years from now...

Ferris_Bueller

Did a quick search of Molumby's name on twitter there and Preston fans seem to love him already.

Francie Barrett

Vital win for Preston. If he could help them finish in a play-off spot this season, that'd be immense.

Mushy

sugarman wrote: »

I see Richie Keogh went straight into the Huddersfield team too.

Hours after being awarded a nice £2m in unfair dismissal

Weepsie

sugarman wrote: »

What do mean and? What dont you get??? Of course playing senior football week in/out is better than youth league games. Inter Milan are a massive club, yes, but their academy isn't particularly one well known for producing players. Most top clubs aren't. Nor are they known to utilize their academies, as already mentioned you have to go back decades to find players that made the breakthrough to the senior team on a permanent basis at Inter. All top clubs buy in their top talent these days.

Sure how do you think the likes of Zefi, Bazunu, Ferguson really got noticed anyway? By playing senior mens football.

There shouldnt be any rush for these kids to move abroad. 2/3 seasons at home in the LOI at 15/16 - 18 will do them the world of good in their development, rather than youth league games. While also getting an education and not being uprooted from friends and family at such a young age.

Pinnamonti left inter's academy in the last few years, has played 60 games in Serie a and just rejoined them.

If you're good enough and committed enough, you'll come through and at the very least put yourself in a position to . These are arguably the most important years in his development so going to somewhere like Inter is a big deal. The move alone puts his name on the radar of more people

johnnyryan89

eire4 wrote: »

Agree with you. Hopefully one of the benefits of brexit for our most promising young players is that they now cannot move to the UK until after they turn 18. So hopefully we will see players now playing at least a few years in the League of Ireland where they can develop physically, continue with their education as you say and if good enough for higher levels when they do leave maybe there is now some transfer money to come into our League of Ireland clubs to help them financially and out most promising players leave as more rounded persons and more experienced and technically and tactically proficient players so they have a better chance of really making it at a top level as pros.

Not unless there's big improvements in the quality of coaching and the contact hours that kids have with coaches. Otherwise you're keeping some lads who are better off away from Ireland here an extra two years and stalling their development.

Thankfully we've got the FAI who are flush with cash and are ready to pump it into the football economy here so kids get more professional coaching and we've got a national League which young players can actually see as a place to learn.

Talon Calm Bobsled wrote: »

You are completely underselling academy football because of the influx of lads that come back from the UK.The chances of breaking through are slim,yes, but the football education you get at these places will be a different level to anything the LOI will ever offer. I see no advantage at all of a young lad of 15 turning down inters academy to play LOI first division.

And one of the main reasons these lads come home is because the quality of coaching is poorer here compared to the UK. FAI development officer said it to us one day when asking about a young lad that played for us. That lads here are two years behind in development compared to lads of the same age in the UK. Think it's Graham Barrett who talks about it too when the DDSL U13s team went over to play Everton's U13s and played a second game against their U11s which contained lads who were U10s.

Even with the money and resources that Rovers are throwing at developing players, would Bazunu be at the level he is now if he stayed in Ireland? Imo no, because he would have been playing second fiddle to Manus. So leaving here when he did helped his development.

The elite of the elite will always leave here for the better coaching,. Now that England is somewhat closed until they're 18 we might actually see these top youngsters look towards the continent and we can try to improve things here for lads that are going to wait until 18 to move.

eire4

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Not unless there's big improvements in the quality of coaching and the contact hours that kids have with coaches. Otherwise you're keeping some lads who are better off away from Ireland here an extra two years and stalling their development.

Thankfully we've got the FAI who are flush with cash and are ready to pump it into the football economy here so kids get more professional coaching and we've got a national League which young players can actually see as a place to learn.



And one of the main reasons these lads come home is because the quality of coaching is poorer here compared to the UK. FAI development officer said it to us one day when asking about a young lad that played for us. That lads here are two years behind in development compared to lads of the same age in the UK. Think it's Graham Barrett who talks about it too when the DDSL U13s team went over to play Everton's U13s and played a second game against their U11s which contained lads who were U10s.

Even with the money and resources that Rovers are throwing at developing players, would Bazunu be at the level he is now if he stayed in Ireland? Imo no, because he would have been playing second fiddle to Manus. So leaving here when he did helped his development.

The elite of the elite will always leave here for the better coaching,. Now that England is somewhat closed until they're 18 we might actually see these top youngsters look towards the continent and we can try to improve things here for lads that are going to wait until 18 to move.

I cannot disagree with you when you point out the in general poor level of coaching in Ireland. The development pathway in this country is a joke and leaves our players particularly technically but also tactically well behind their counterparts from not just the UK but pretty much most of western Europe at the very least. This is all the legacy left to us by the FAI abdicating their duty to put a proper pathway in place for our most talented players.

For me working on increasing the pool of talented coaches and focusing on building proper academies with quality coaching is among the most important things the FAI should and can be focusing on right now for the long term future of the game in Ireland. The brexit effect which prevents our young promising players from leaving until for the UK they turn 18 hopefully will prove to be a stick that will prod us into action. But regardless if we want to have a viable and healthy long term future for football in this country it is incumbent on the FAI and the League of Ireland to work on providing a legitimate pathway for promising youngsters within Ireland. If we do not do so and expect others to do it for us we will deserve the kind of poorly talented national team we currently have into the future as well.

Dr. Bre

Celtic linked to James MCCarthy

Local_Chap

Mick McCarthy expected to be named Cardiff City manager.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/55762328

loyatemu

Local_Chap wrote: »

Mick McCarthy expected to be named Cardiff City manager.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/55762328

He's a safe (if not very exciting) pair of hands at Championship level.

Agent Coulson

Mick now confirmed as new Cardiff manager.

Francie Barrett

sugarman wrote: »

https://twitter.com/rscanderlecht/status/1352707580024541188

Watched him again this evening. Anderlecht will be disappointed to only draw that game, but Cullen put in a typical determined performance and worked his socks off. Not the most creative of players, he didn't put a foot wrong and nor play a bad pass from what I saw.

I don't know if Cullen starts or not, but at this stage I reckon he is 100% nailed on to make the squad at least. Anderlecht play the same system/formation Kenny is trying to go for (probably mix it up a little more with some long balls at times). I think Kenny will want a defensive midfielder, so it'll be between McCarthy and Cullen for one of the three midfield spots.

kowloonkev

Mushy wrote: »

Hours after being awarded a nice £2m in unfair dismissal

I was really pleased for him and it just shows how badly Derby must be run if they didn't see this coming. It couldn't have come at a worse time for them but I think that is karma for treating a loyal servant so unfairly.

Mushy

kowloonkev wrote: »

I was really pleased for him and it just shows how badly Derby must be run if they didn't see this coming. It couldn't have come at a worse time for them but I think that is karma for treating a loyal servant so unfairly.

Dunno how they thought theyd get away with it, and couldnt have come at a worse time for them. Interested to hear what grounds for appeal they have. The move to MK Dons didnt do him any harm anyway

johnnyryan89

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Watched him again this evening. Anderlecht will be disappointed to only draw that game, but Cullen put in a typical determined performance and worked his socks off. Not the most creative of players, he didn't put a foot wrong and nor play a bad pass from what I saw.

I don't know if Cullen starts or not, but at this stage I reckon he is 100% nailed on to make the squad at least. Anderlecht play the same system/formation Kenny is trying to go for (probably mix it up a little more with some long balls at times). I think Kenny will want a defensive midfielder, so it'll be between McCarthy and Cullen for one of the three midfield spots.

Would love to see a midfield three of Cullen, Molumby and Knight. Would be our most energetic midfield trio that we could name. But no chance they'd play against Serbia, probably end up being McCarthy, Hourihane and Hendrick again.

Mushy wrote: »

Dunno how they thought theyd get away with it, and couldnt have come at a worse time for them. Interested to hear what grounds for appeal they have. The move to MK Dons didnt do him any harm anyway

Pretty sure I read it somewhere that Derby always knew they'd end up paying him his remaining wages, and he was more sacked at the time because Derby needed to free up wages at the time.

Similar to Rooney being brought in as a coach, that it was a work around because of some wage thing they had to stick within.

The timing of it could definitely see Derby selling some of their better players like Knight, Sibley and Bielik.

Mushy

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Pretty sure I read it somewhere that Derby always knew they'd end up paying him his remaining wages, and he was more sacked at the time because Derby needed to free up wages at the time.

Similar to Rooney being brought in as a coach, that it was a work around because of some wage thing they had to stick within.

The timing of it could definitely see Derby selling some of their better players like Knight, Sibley and Bielik.

If they knew that surely they would have not gone through the hassle of employment tribunals. Looks far worse that way, and then appealing on top of it. I think theyd be selling their better players even without this on top of everything, hopefully Knight gets a good move

NewMan1982

A midfield of Cullen, molumby and knight sounds good. I like what I’ve seen from them so far but I haven’t seen a lot of games.

Is there creativity in that 3 though?

Maybe it’s time to give them the chance anyway. We’ve nothing to lose at this point. Hoorihane and Hendrick offer very little, might as well stick in younger players with more hunger.

henke

If Knight were to move who do you think would be in for him? PL clubs. My preference would be stays at Derby for now and plays week in week out or if he was to move a top Championship club going for promotion if he can continue to get his game. I think he would be worse off on a PL bench.

Kermit.de.frog

How many more games will Stephen Kenny be given to prove himself (assuming the games don't go well for us)? You'd imagine the FAI already have their exit plan drawn up.